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The Welcome Wagon
Welcome To The
Presbyterian pastor and his cutely mousey Mrs. get all indie-ish, singing their own human- and God-directed love songs and remake public domain hymnody, Danielson, The Velvet Underground and The Smiths, among others. Can’t already guess the sound Vito and Monique Aiuto make out of all that? Add in their friendship with and production by Sufjan Stevens. Heard the last couple of his albums? Now y’got it? Maybe Stevens can’t help but turn his amigos into adjuncts of his celestial high school marching band-meets angelic choir vibery (though he might want to add to his bag of tricks soon, too), but God bless it, that approach pretty well works to The Welcome Wagon’s favor. That’s especially the case when the accompaniment is at its most minimal or, go figure, its most bombastic. Thoughout, the couple’s unaffected sincerity shines through nearly as a counteraction to the filigrees with which Stevens surrounds their sweet serenading. By album’s end, it might seem like you’ve made friends out of one of the unlikelier couples to be primed for college radio acclaim – though goodness knows they’d make a great double bill with The White Stripes – and you may want to invite them to play your own church. Just watch how much they might ask you to pay their backing band. [Asthmatic Kitty] Jamie Lee Rake


DVP rating: 3.5
Writer rating: 4.0




This album review was originally published in the May/June Issue (#137) of HM Magazine. Order the Print Version to read tons more reviews. You can order the Print Version of this issue online or find this issue on newsstands. You can NOW read this entire feature in the online edition of HM Magazine. If you're a subscriber, you get a free online/digital subscription with your print subscription. You can purchase a single online/digital edition (which includes access to back issues) for only $1.99. A one-year digital-only subscription can be had for only $6.




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